Observance of ethics is a key step in the success of a business. The stakeholders or the enforcers of business policies should not focus on some of the principles of ethics and leave the others. It is not possible to apply ethics halfway because a simple violation of the principles of ethics will have a great impact of the affected individual. Therefore, in the case study, Tom is not justified to use natural tendency as a scapegoat. The reason as to why people go to school is to attain skills in order to overcome natural tendencies and to use reason to execute business policies. Tom, in this case, has violated the ethical principle of justice as well as honesty. He has not asked himself whether his action is legal before making it. Further, he has not considered the fairness of his actions and decisions. He has violated the principles of business ethics as well as the laws of the country. The law requires that no one should be discriminated against on the basis of their color. Tom is practicing a form of discrimination that is known as colorism. Tom should be taken to court.
A serious company should have guidelines concerning the conduct and the dress code of their employees. It is morally acceptable to discriminate against the people whose dressing styles and lifestyles in general contradict the expectations of the society. The interests of the company should be prioritized before the interests of any individual. Office etiquette and personal appearance are key to maintaining the image of the business. The customers of a company always have a certain level of expectations on the employees of that particular company. Therefore, the employees of a company should dress decently in line with the policy and expectations of the company to uphold its image.
The most compelling counterargument would be that the law provides a right to every person to decide on their way of dressing. Any person with such an argument should be made to know that a business enterprise is an entity by its own. It has its own guiding principles. By becoming an employee of such a company, one binds themselves by signing a contract and, therefore, they should be ready to abide by the requirements of the contract.